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Downballot: Counting 387 ballots

"The longest, costliest U.S. Senate race in Minnesota history has come down to a decisive pile of under 400 absentee ballots that will be opened and counted today in yet another attempt to determine a winner in the case of Norm Coleman vs. Al Franken," the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes.

More: "The last of the 400 ballots ordered by the judicial panel arrived in the secretary of state's office on Monday afternoon, with five driven up and hand-delivered by the Freeborn County auditor. Judges spent the day poring over the unopened ballots, reviewing the outside envelopes for possible irregularities and making final determinations on how many of them will be opened today. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann said Monday that 13 of the 400 ballots on the judges' list had already been counted, on Election Day or during the recount, putting the number of ballots that might be added at 387."

The Pioneer Press adds, "The ballots, likely the last to be counted in the contest between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, are not expected to give Coleman the result he went to court three months ago to get -- a victory in the U.S. Senate race. Most observers believe the choices on the ballots will add to Franken's 225-vote lead. Coleman has become so convinced he will not win at this stage of the game that he and his team already have pledged they will appeal the results to the state Supreme Court."